Heat oil in a small heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook mustard seeds until they begin to pop, about 15 seconds. Add curry leaves and cook 5 seconds, then pour mixture into pumpkin soup. Stir until combined well and season soup with salt. Soup can be thinned with additional water.

Cooks' note:
Soup can be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, covered.

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I have made this soup for years to rave reviews. It is easy to make, surpringly light, and with complex flavored. I make it exactly as is; do not skip the curry (kafir lime) leaves or the mustard seeds! -- I did this once because I didn't have them handy, and the result was very blah.

ajjaffin from Washington DC / 11.09.14

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Great soup! I used a roasted fresh pumpkin, 4 cups of chicken broth, no water, and a few pinches of cayenne instead of red pepper flakes. I did not have curry leaves, but it was good without. I toasted the mustard seed in olive oil and added to soup halfway and blended everything together.

carolinecolburn from Asheville, NC / 11.02.14

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I found this to lack depth of flavour. I have an old Jamaican pumpkin soup recipe I've used for years, and thought I'd try something different. This one didn't quite do it for me. I only had dried curry leaves, so I added them to the soup for flavoring and removed them before the purée. I added hot madras curry powder in the end to bump it up a little.

ratherski from Toronto, Ontario / 10.12.14

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i really like the way in which this recipe looks i eaten it before with my loved ones most of us enjoyed this we may have a household gathering again and cook this recipe again soon that is one tasty recipe you need to check it out i guarantee you whatever you should this its very tasty

Love this recipe. I am fortunate to get organic pumpkins and will use those for my soups. When using my own puree I use less additional liquid. But trying out other spice combinations, olive oil vs. butter, and other suggestions listed here is great! Keep suggesting!

louiseindr from Minneapolis, MN / 12.10.13

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Delicious, but as others did - I made some changes (made it a much easier recipe). Used 1 can trader joes light cocounut milk and 1 box (4cups) organic vegetable soup, no water. For spices I used: cumin, cayenne pepper (1/8tsp), mild curry powder. I used olive oil instead of butter. That's it...and I will need to make another pot for my guests tomorrow, because I'm on my 2nd bowl.

rgr13 from NYC / 10.31.13

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Absolutely delicious! Cooked-in a few leftover roasted sweet potato & red onion chunks from the previous night and added a little chunky applesauce & brown sugar for our taste.Didn't use all the water; added more chicken broth broth & 1/4 C water instead. Didn't have cardamom. Used a little curry powder. Puréed & returned to pot. Served with warm pita bread. Family had seconds!

orangebeetle from Stuttgart, Germany / 09.20.13

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I used olive oil
instead of butter,
and only broth. I
only added 4 1/2
cups of broth since
I wanted the soup
thicker. I used 1/8
tsp of cayenne
instead of pepper
flakes.And I
completely left off
the mustard seeds
and curry leaves.

julieaugust from Baltimore, MD / 05.18.13

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I was looking for a savory pumpkin soup reminiscent of one I had about 30 years ago in Bahrain. This looked like a good bet. Based on reviews, I added a diced red potato to cook in the broth for thickening. I used all chicken broth instead of part water. Since I had fresh pie pumpkin on hand, I used that instead of canned boiling it in the liquid. Added a bit of turmeric with the spices and used cayenne instead of red pepper flakes. Omitted mustard seeds and curry leaves. This version of the soup more than fulfilled my expectations. It will become one of my fall staple soups when fresh pumpkin is available!

desertwillow from Texas panhandle / 11.05.12

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Didn't add the curry
leaves and mustard
seeds because I
didn't have them. I
added another
quarter of the
roasted pumpkin, 2
peeled and diced
granny smith apples,
2t curry powder, and
1/3c brown sugar.
Blended it, then
added another can of
full-fat coconut
milk when I was
ready to reheat.
Served with a hearty
salad, warm bread,
and Stonehedge
cabernet. It was
delish! 12/12/11 (I
made the soup
yesterday and
reheated it slowly
this evening.)
Read More
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/notes/Curried-Pumpkin-Soup-232968#ixzz1gNzsUfJi